Zaire Bean, the newly crowned Miss Teen Bermuda Islands, has a piece of advice for her peers — don’t let obstacles stop you from accomplishing your dreams.The 17-year-old hopes to one day become a journalist and travel around the globe, but believes the sky is the limit to what she can accomplish.She said winning the pageant last weekend was “the first stepping stone” on her path to success.She said: “I don’t limit myself. My mind is just beyond Bermuda and that is what I want to tell the youth of today: there is a world out there and even if you mess up and go on the wrong path you can always bounce back from that.“It’s never the end of the road. You can always find a way and if you say you can, you will be in that position one day to accomplish your dreams.“You just have to put forth the work in order to receive, as [the rewards] come in bits and pieces. God doesn’t always bless us and give us our wish and dream the first time, it’s about stepping stones. I believe winning Miss Teen Bermuda Islands 2012 is the first stepping stone for me.”Miss Bean decided to enter the pageant earlier this year after getting an encouraging push from pageant promoter Terry Lee Smith.She started attending rehearsals back around June and enjoyed it so much she came back week after week.“I realised it would be a great experience and I am always open to different experiences,” she said. “I get myself involved with so many different things. I am involved with the Centre for Talented Youth and do various classes, like medical science, algebra, international relations and law in society. I am also the historian for the Youth Parliament.”The Berkeley Institute student also recently travelled to Guyana, where she completed her silver Duke of Edinburgh Award.At the start of the pageant she had to consider whether or not she would take the chance and let people see the real her.She said: “I [initially] wondered should I go out there and say the things I think and feel? So that was one of the first obstacles I had to overcome, but I decided I was just going to be 100 percent organic Zaire.”The risk paid off — the best part of the experience for her was getting to know the judging panel.“I didn’t try to do this a certain way or try too hard, but I just thought of it [as], I have to go to this place, or make that appearance, and so I was just me,” she explained. “I didn’t have to hold back and I pulled down all the walls. I was just natural and genuine.”She told The Royal Gazette winning the pageant came as a huge shock.When she realised she was one of the final two girls left standing she started to cry; she began to shake when her name was finally read out for the title.“It was just so overwhelming ... [and] feels really great to know that more than one person accepted me for who I am.“It’s satisfying to know I gave 100 percent and didn’t hold back and knowing that even if I didn’t win I did my best and that was good enough.”After the announcement, her mother Barbara Bean was “running around, crying and doing some hysterical stuff”; while father Colin Thompson was sitting on the edge of his seat.Though it has taken a while for the reality to set in, Miss Bean said it was great having the chance to meet new people and be interviewed by local media throughout the week.She said she initially wanted to become a lawyer and spent several summers interning with mentor Victoria Pearman of Juris Law Chambers. But she eventually settled on following her passion for writing and said she was inspired by her father, a sports reporter for The Royal Gazette.The pageant queen couldn’t think of anything in particular that moulded her into who she is today, but said she considered each day on earth a gift.“I wake up every morning and I have two legs and two arms. I can read and write, have food on my plate and clothes on my back, thanks to my parents for providing for me. I was taught from a young age not to take anything for granted.”She hopes to inspire change on the Island and wants residents to come together and support one another so we can grow as a Country.The teenager wants people to see she is no better than anyone else. “I am just a normal young lady that understands there is a world out there and if she puts her mind out there she can do it.“Even though I have won Miss Teen Bermuda Islands I do not put myself on a pedestal, I still see myself as an average person, but I have met an accomplishment.”